After just over two decades of operation, 14 of which were under Microsoft's ownership, Skype is finally shutting down. At its height, it was the multimedia messenger app to be on, but years of Microsoft not quite knowing what to do with it had it lagging behind every other communications app. When it disappears in May, you'll never have to sit through advertising inside your messaging app. Just kidding, we're pretty sure those are getting added to Microsoft Teams soon, but until then you've got time to test out some alternative messaging apps that all do what Skype used to, only better.

9 Microsoft Teams

The understudy finally toppled the master

While Google still has the crown as the biggest tech company that has no idea what it's doing with messaging apps, it's not alone. Microsoft had no clue what to do with Skype, so shifting functionality over to Teams and stripping it for parts is probably the kindest way to say goodbye. Skype's legacy is going to live forever in Teams because it's yet another messaging app that none of us really like but are forced to use.

Here's part of that junkyard collection of Skype's code, the weird together mode that puts everyone's heads on a lecture hall's seating arrangement. At least it's not the even weirder balloon-drop background that Skype puts your disembodied faces on. That just wouldn't fit in the professional environment, and Teams is absolutely a tie-optional, business casual looking for a videoconference to photobomb. Anyway, get used to Teams because it's not going anywhere, at least until Microsoft either buys one of the other services on this list, or makes a new messaging app to cover up the old bones of the last few.

8 TeamSpeak

User entered your channel will haunt our dreams

TeamSpeak has been around since before Skype was a thing, so it's impressive that a company that's been privately owned for over two decades is still going in the cutthroat environment of VoIP providers that often resort to selling user information for advertising purposes to survive. But not TeamSpeak, who did go through a rocky patch before pivoting to selling servers to companies to use for their internal communications, notably with NASA on the client list.

You don't need a corporate HQ to run TeamSpeak, though. As long as you have a server to host it, you can spin up your own server with 32 seats for free. It's been a beloved VoIP service for gamers since the earliest days of esports, with some of the best audio quality and codecs to keep everyone's amusing quips crystal clear. A big redesign has recently turned it into a full messaging suite with text chats, file transfers, and tons of customizability, but it's still the same solid core of comms that no LAN party would be without.

7 Discord

The millennial chat app of choice has video, voice, and much more

Discord is one of the newer kids on the block, but has risen over the last decade to be the social but not too-social app to be for communities, hobbyists, and brands. Started as a way for a group of friends to have reliable comms during MMORPG raiding, it's the new do-everything app and its growth doesn't look like it's slowing down any time soon.

With over 150 million active users, the app runs on any operating system you could think of, and in your browser for any it doesn't have a native app in. It's now one of the most-visited websites in the world, where you can share memes, chat about hobbies, and stream gameplay to other users. It's hard to say exactly what the app is now, because it has forum capabilities, real-time chat, voice and video chat, file sharing and tons of other features. Oh, and animated emojis and other cosmetic flourishes, which you get access to by subscribing.

6 Google Voice

The best way to have a virtual phone number now Skype is gone

Google has its own VoIP service, Google Voice, and if you live in the right handful of countries, you can get a free virtual phone number that can make and receive actual phone calls. I've been a user since the early days, although my Google Voice number got ported to Google Fi when it came out in beta, and it's been great for voice call quality, support of non-geographical numbers that Skype used to struggle with, and free voicemail.

The free plan is all anyone really needs, but if you have a Google Workspace account, you can add Google Voice for Business and gain things like AI-powered auto attendants to answer calls and route them to your team members for them to deal with. It's not quite a full-blown VoIP service, but for smaller businesses it'll do the job, and you won't have to listen to the Skype calling sound ever again.

5 WhatsApp

Multi-platform messaging at its finest

When Microsoft acquired Skype all those years ago, the Redmond giant was probably dreaming of the userbase that WhatsApp currently commands. A staggering 2.9 billion people use WhatsApp, and it's the most popular messaging app worldwide. Anyone reading this with extended family that doesn't live in the US probably has WhatsApp group chats going on right now. Because it lets you make phone calls over Wi-Fi, it is often used in countries with expensive cellular plans to dodge those costs.

You can message, have voice chats, and more recently, video has joined the party. It's everything that a modern messaging app should be, with read receipts, end-to-end encryption, and a ton of features that are constantly being added to and improved.

4 Zoom

The favorite of the office crowd for video conferencing needs

If Skype was the benchmark for VoIP messaging apps, Zoom is the bar to reach for workplace communications. With better video processing than most video conferencing apps, actually useful AI for taking meeting notes, summaries, and drafting responses, and chat features that rival Slack, collaborative whiteboards, and the best of the office cubicle, just in digital form.

Okay, maybe the number sorting from Severance isn't inside Zoom (yet), but I bet if they could figure out a business angle that didn't break IP laws they would. It's probably a bit much for personal use, but the free version of Zoom doesn't have most of the features, so you get great video encoding and sound, without having to learn what everything else does. It's what Microsoft wishes Skype for Business would have been, except they didn't put anywhere near as much thought into the UI or feature set.

3 FaceTime

Apple's secret weapon for user retention is now available to use on other devices (sort of)

Two notable phone releases occurred in 2007. Except nobody remembers the first one because the iPhone 2G stole all the thunder. Oh, the other phone? The Skypephone, which was a feature phone with Skype built-in, with free messaging even if you were on a pay-as-you-go cellular plan. I owned one, because Skype was the messaging app to use in 2007, but three years later Apple released FaceTime, and literally changed the face of video calls.

Every iPhone has FaceTime, as does every Mac, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Apple Vision Pro, iPod Touch, oh and nowadays, anything with a web browser. That's a lot of devices, and since FaceTime is as simple as a voice call to start, it's got a huge userbase. Yes, you do need an Apple device to start a call, but the other person doesn't need one, and with 1.4 billion iPhones out there, it's a fair bet you'll be able to use it to replace Skype. If you even still use Skype, that is.

2 Riverside

The best way to record remote podcasts now that Skype is no longer

The creator economy was a big fan of Skype because of one feature. You could get a separate audio feed from every participant on a conference call, which made recording conversations to edit into podcast episodes really, really easy. Even if you and your guests were talking over each other, Skype gave an unadulterated feed from each microphone in the call, and that's a feature that is rare. Rarer still, at least as of May 2025.

To get that now, you'll need to splash out some cash, but Riverside gives you way more than individual audio feeds to edit—you get the full editing suite as well, plus video, and a ton of other features that will give you added value, for your added-value productions.

1 Mumble

Far from its namesake, this free and open-source voice chat app has enduring appeal

Ever wanted your own Skype server? The open-source Mumble lets you host one, and the low-latency Opus codec provides awesome audio quality. It's got some awesome organizational features, like server-wide announcement channels that all the users can hear, even if they're grouped into breakout rooms or teams for multiplayer gaming, and a certain level of noise cancelation. It's also got positional audio, for some games, which isn't going to be much use in an office setting, but if you were using Skype for esports comms it'll come in handy.

Microsoft never quite knew what to do with Skype

Skype was once the darling of messaging apps, able to handle chats, voice calls, and later video calls with ease. It kept friends, family, and work colleagues connected no matter where they were, but it got passed around like a hot potato until Microsoft thought it would be a good thing to monetize for business users. Except, the mindshare for Skype was one-to-one chats, and it never quite passed the rubicon into group chats or video conferencing, and then Microsoft showed it out the door with the introduction of Teams.